2018 Champion City

Austin, TX : 2018 Champion City

Using Blockchain to Vouch for Identities of the Homeless

947,890

Population

Steve Adler

Mayor

Directly Elected Mayor

Type of Government

4 years

Length of Term

Homelessness

Issue Area

The Problem

For the more than 7,000 people who experience homelessness in Austin, lack of ID can mean barriers to, or delays in, their access to housing, employment, and other services critical to dignity, support, and recovery.

The Idea

The City of Austin will use blockchain technology to provide homeless residents with a unique identifier that allows them to access their personal records at any time, enabling access to critical services.

What Mayor Steve Adler is saying:

Austin is a creative, innovative city, and I’m excited we’re applying these core values to our approach to help those experiencing homelessness.

Steve Adler, Mayor of Austin, TX

Our Prototyping Journey

Let's Go

How we are testing our idea

Austin ran a series of tests at “pop-up clinics” to assess whether homeless residents will trust and understand the solution; whether providers will be able to access data to facilitate service transactions; and whether the system will properly protect private personal data.

Ideas into action

What we’re discovering through testing

To better explain the complex blockchain concept, the Austin team found it effective to use a padlock and notebook as a metaphor for the block technology. The team was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the people they tested with understood the idea and recognized the potential benefits it could have for service providers. One participant said, “This [technology] would mean service providers will be able to feed more people rather than paying $11 to get people IDs."

The Austin team has previous experience working with homeless groups, which has helped them to communicate and run effective tests. They have been careful not to over-promise and under-deliver to the groups they are testing with. One way they have done this is by testing with one homeless individual, to get early feedback, before sharing with a larger cohort.

Austin initially believed that existing blockchain software (currently used for refugees) would be transferable to their use case. However, they discovered that it couldn’t verify documents needed to create their custom solution. As a result, they decided to host a Hackathon so they could learn whether the blockchain solution was viable. They invited developers to work off of a technical framework and test their solutions with people who experience homelessness and service providers.

“My eyes have been opened and I never want them to be closed. I’ll continue to be involved with my community.”

One of the developers at the Hackathon

Interested in Public Sector Innovation? Sign up for our Spark newsletter!